Anchor line lock

ABSTRACT

A device for adjustably securing an anchor line to the hull of a boat is disclosed. A housing through which the line passes extends outwardly away from the boat hull to suspend a raised anchor. A line locking member is swingably mounted in the housing and is positionable by the manually controlled anchor line. In a lowermost position the locking member wedgingly engages the line, locking the same against the housing while in a raised position the locking member permits unrestricted paying out of the line.

Patented Dec. 14, 1971 DONALD L. CAMERON ROBERT L. GIELISH INVENTORS States Patent Inventors Donald L. Cameron 83213 N. Rodgers Road, Creswell, Oreg. 97426; Robert L. Gielish, Route 8, Box 5913, Pleasant Hill, Oreg. 97401 Appl. No. 841,403 Filed July 14, 1969 Patented Dec. 14, 1971 ANCHOR LINE LOCK 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 1 14/199, 24/134, 114/210, 248/242, 254/190 Int. Cl B63b 21/08 Field 01 Search 114/210,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,710,697 4/1929 Gilbert 1 14/210 X 2,547,370 4/1951 Boyer 24/134 X 2,938,491 5/1960 Scanlin 1 14/210 2,955,560 10/1960 Howington et a1. 1 14/210 3,1 19,590 1/1964 Eriksson 248/2403 I Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-F. K. Yee Attorney-James D. Givnan, Jr.

ABSTRACT: A device for adjustably securing an anchor line to the hull ofa boat is disclosed. A housing through which the line passes extends outwardly away from the boat hull to suspend a raised anchor. A line locking member is swingably mounted in the housing and is positionable by the manually controlled anchor line. In a lowermost position the locking member wedgingly engages the line, locking the same against the housing while in a raised position the locking member permits unrestricted paying out of the line.

ANCHOR LINE LOCK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to devices for snubbing an anchor line and particularly for a manually controlled anchor line as found on small boats.

The prior art, to the extent I am aware of, Provides various types of line locking devices which for the most part are impractical for use on small craft. The reason is twofold, first their complexity and hence cost justifies use only on larger boats and secondly such complexity results in an unattractive accessory not acceptable to small boat owners. Further, the prior art devices do not provide for rapid handling of an anchor line in the convenient, one-handed manner permitted by the present line locking device. The present device permits the boat operator, already occupied with motor or oar handling, to very advantageously control an anchor line with one hand as later elaborated upon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant invention is embodied within a device for use on small craft mountable on the prow or gunwale and including an elongate support through which the anchor line is guided. A locking member is housed ther'ewithin at one end of the housing and mounted so as to snub a slack anchor line in one direction while permitting free line travel in an opposite direction. A weighted pivoted member is carried within the housing and serves to bind or pinch the line to arrest paying out of the line. The pivoted member is moveable manually into a position wherein line travel is unrestricted in either direction. The elongate housing serves to retain a raised anchor at a distance from the boat structure to prevent damaging same during rough water passageThe housing is mountable by adjustable means to allow varying of the housings relationship to the boat hull and to allow installation on hulls of different thicknesses.

It is an important object to the invention to provide an anchor line lock particularly useful by sports fishermen in turbulent river water. In the fishing of rivers it is often necessary to periodically drop anchor to fish likely looking fishing spots. In floating down a turbulent and fast river it is important that the anchor line be releasable at the proper moment to assure desired locationing of the boat. The boat operator busily occupied with the task of controlling the boat must be able to release the anchor line quickly which is accomplished in the present device and may be done in a one-handed manner. Further, it is desirable that the line he self-locking i.e., upon release of the line by the boat operator the line will automatically be locked against further paying out.

Oppositely the line is retrieved by simply pulling on the anchor line with the line lock functioning in between each pull to prevent paying out. The elongate housing retains a raised anchor outwardly from the boat hull a distance to prevent accidental damaging contact with the hull.

A further object is the provision for a pendulous line locking member which is urged into line locking contact upon the tendency of the line toward further outward movement. A pinching action is exerted on the line. The positive locking action is achieved by the manner in which the line passes intermediate the housing and the line locking member.

A desirable feature of the present invention is the means provided for mounting on various sizes of boats and at a desired inclined relationship to the boat hull. Brackets may be attached to the housing at selected intervals and swung into the desired position for mounting of the housing. This feature enables the present device to adapt to boat hulls of widely differing hull designs.

Additional objects will become apparent in the following specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing: FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one end of a typical river craft with the instant invention in place thereon,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the present device with sections removed enabling an adequate scale for the figure,

FIG. 3 is a sectional, elevational view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing details of a line locking member with the anchor line in dashed lines, and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 taken along line 4-4 and showing details of the housing and a mounting bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING With continuing reference to the above drawing in which reference numerals identify parts similarly identified in the following specification, the reference numeral 10 indicates generally the line locking device in its entirety with the anchor line indicated at 11 and an anchor at 12. The device is shown operatively mounted on an end section of a boat specifically designed for navigating turbulent rivers but of course its usefulness is not limited to any particular hull design. When used as shown the device 10 is mounted on the aft end of the boat causing the anchor, when dropped, to be somewhat upstream from the position of the boat. In navigating streams and rivers with fast currents it will be apparent that rapid release of an anchor by the boat operator is necessary to locate the boat at likely fishing spots.

The anchor line 1 1 is routed through an elongate housing 13 of the present device in inclined relationship to a housing bottom wall 13A as best seen in FIG. 2. When the housing is of a length of approximately 2 feet the line 11 passes therethrough in the slightly inclined manner for the purpose of insuring engagement with a line locking member 14 swingably mounted on a pin 15.

To permit line passage in a free unrestricted manner, when desired, an open area 18 is formed in the line locking member 14. This open area as best seen in FIG. 3 is defined by an inwardly extending, diagonal cutaway surface 16 which terminates above the locking members lower end to form a substantially ringlike portion 17 having a forward segment 17A and rearward segment 17B. When member 14 is formed from tubular stock the diagonal surface 16 cut therein will provide the elongate opening 18 through which the line will travel unimpeded when the member is raised to the line release position (broken line position) of FIG. 2.

Occupying the forward end of the housing is a rope guide 19 in the form of a sheave journaled on an axle 20. The line 11 is confined against escape from the sheave by the latters placement in proximity to the upper wall 13D of the housing 13. The housing terminates forwardly at 138 to prevent any contact with the line 12.

For mounting of the line locking device 10 in an adjustable manner to the boat hull 23 a pair of brackets 24 are provided. The brackets, as typically shown in FIG. 4, permit mounting of the device 10 to any one of various hull shapes in the desired relationship as shown. Each bracket 24 is formed to receive the housing 13 between upwardly extending ears 25 with a removable fastener 26 extending therethrough and about which the housing may be swung during mounting. A series of aligned openings 13C are spaced along the housing at intervals of a dimension equal to the most common hull thicknesses for convenience of attaching the brackets 24 thereto. From this it will be apparent that with the brackets attached to the housing 13 at the requisite opening 13C, each bracket may be adjusted in place against the boat hull to properly dispose housing 13 whereupon drilling of the brackets and securing by fasteners will complete the installation.

When installation of the present device is to be made on the centerline of a hull having other than the flat hull surface shown the brackets 24 may be formed in a corresponding shape.

With regard to the functioning of the invention release of the line by locking member 14 is achieved by lifting of the anchor line by the boat operator to the broken line position of FIGS. 1 and 2. The line will then pay out past member 14 until the operator manually lowers the line, which lowering will permit the line urged movement of the locking member 14 downward to the locking position shown in full lines. In anchoring in a stream or river current the anchoring tension on the line will result in segment 17B of the ringlike portion 17 coming into forceful contact with the line anchoring same against the bottom wall of the housing. Increased tension exerted on the line will cause the forward segment 17A of portion 17 to move downwardly to increase the line pinching action.

With the anchor raised, as shown in FIG. I, the weight thereof will cause the above line locking condition to be present. As mentioned earlier the elongate housing 13 insures retention of the anchor at a distance from the boat hull where anchor movement during rocking of the boat will not result in damaging contact with the boat hull. Further, the elongate housing 13 enables the course of anchor line between member 14 and sheave 19 to be at a wide angle conducive to resistance between the line and ringlike portion 17 when in the locked position.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An anchor line control device for adjustably securing the anchor line to a boat, said device comprising in combination,

an elongate housing affixed to and projecting outwardly from the hull of the boat for positioning a raised anchor away from said hull with the anchor line passing through said housing, said housing including a bottom wall a tubular line locking member mounted in a freely swingable manner at its upper end within said housing adjacent one end of the housing with the anchor line passing through the lower end of said member with the anchor line inducing arcuate movement of said member both toward and away from the bottom wall of the housing, said lower end of the locking member defining a circular opening, said tubular member additionally defining an elongate opening adjacent the lower end of the member with the anchor line passing both through said circular and elongate openings in angular relationship to the major axis of the member whereby the drag exerted on the member by the line will move the locking member downwardly to a line wedging position and oppositely upwardly to a line freeing position upon like movement of the anchor line by the boat operator.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, additionally including bracket members depending from said housing, said members angularly positionable relative to said housing and adapted for securement to the boat hull whereby the angularly depending members will retain the housing in a desired relationship when secured to the boat hull.

II k II IF 

1. An anchor line control device for adjustably securing the anchor line to a boat, said device comprising in combination, an elongate housing affixed to and projecting outwardly from the hull of the boat for positioning a raised anchor away from said hull with the anchor line passing through said housing, said housing including a bottom wall, a tubular line locking member mounted in a freely swingable manner at its upper end within said housing adjacent one end of the housing with the anchor line passing through the lower end of said member with the anchor line inducing arcuate movement of said member both toward and away from the bottom wall of the housing, said lower end of the locking member defining a circular opening, said tubular member additionally defining an elongate opening adjacent the lower end of the member with the anchor line passing both through said circular and elongate openings in angular relationship to the major axis of the member whereby the drag exerted on the member by the line will move the locking member downwardly to a line wedging position and oppositely upwardly to a line freeing position upon like movement of the anchor line by the boat operator.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, additionally including bracket members depending from said housing, said members angularly positionable relative to said housing and adapted for securement to the boat hull whereby the angularly depending members will retain the housing in a desired relationship when secured to the boat hull. 